Two top Los Zetas cartel commanders and nine of their gunmen received a 50-year prison sentence for their roles in the mass killing of over 120 victims in the border state of Tamaulipas. The victims were pulled off passenger buses, killed, and buried in shallow mass graves near the town of San Fernando.
This week, a Mexican federal judge sentenced Salvador Alfonso “Comandante Ardilla” Martinez Escobedo to 50 years in prison for his role in the murder of 122 victims in San Fernando in 2011, a prepared statement by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office revealed. Martinez Escobedo was a regional boss with Los Zetas who was in charge of parts of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo Leon. The local boss for San Fernando at the time, Martin Omar “Comandante Kilo” Estrada Luna, and nine other Los Zetas members under their command received the same sentence for their roles in the killing.
Federal prosecutors in Mexico revealed that between April and May 2011, the Los Zetas intercepted passenger buses traveling near San Fernando and kidnapped 122 victims only to kill them and dump their bodies in a series of clandestine gravesites.
As Breitbart Texas reported, during 2010 and 2011, Los Zetas established a reign of terror in the border state of Tamaulipas. The hyperviolent criminal organization carried out two separate massacres in San Fernando while also waging a fierce turf war against their former bosses with the Gulf Cartel. One of the massacres took place in August 2010, when a group of Los Zetas gunmen intercepted 72 migrants headed for the border, took them to a ranch near San Fernando, killed them, and piled the bodies inside a warehouse. A 73rd migrant managed to survive while playing dead and escaped when he had the chance. The migrant was able to reach authorities who raided the ranch and found the bodies.
Despite the increased military and police presence, Los Zetas kept kidnapping buses and killing migrants who refused to join their ranks or did not pay for the right to cross their turf. They also killed individuals suspected of being rivals. Authorities eventually discovered more than 194 bodies in 47 mass graves in San Fernando, including the 122 victims from the most recent sentencing. Since then, San Fernando continues to have a heavy cartel presence and is currently controlled by a group calling themselves Old School Zetas (Zetas Vieja Escuela).
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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